Japanese convenience store operator Lawson plans to test yen-denominated stablecoin payments at a Tokyo location in August, testing whether stablecoin payments can work as part of a standard convenience store transaction flow.

On Monday, blockchain company HashPort he said signed an agreement with Lawson and the KDDI telecommunications group to conduct the test at the Lawson Takanawa Gateway City store. Participants will apply an unsecured HashPort wallet while the store processes payments through the company’s point-of-sale system without the need to open or manage cryptocurrency wallets.

The aim of the pilot is to explore how stablecoin payments can be integrated into Japan’s existing retail infrastructure while shielding merchants from much of the operational complexity associated with accepting digital assets.

Companies plan to evaluate integration requirements, checkout operations, payment processing times and wallet usability before considering broader applications.

Netstars launches multi-stablecoin trading service

Separately, Japanese payment company Netstars fired Stablecoin Pay on Monday, opening applications from merchants willing to accept multiple stablecoins as payment options.

The service initially supports USDC, USDT and yen-denominated JPYC via the Solana and Polygon networks, with MetaMask being the supported wallet. Netstars has set its merchant fee at 0.98% and said it plans to add more wallets and blockchains.

With this service, merchants can apply existing payment terminals in most cases and handle product pricing, sales documentation and billing in yen, even if customers pay with dollar-denominated stablecoins. Netstars says this eliminates the need to store cryptocurrencies or manage exchange rates.

Commercial premiere follows Netstars tests including USDC payments at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport from January to February and at the trading card store in Himeji from April.

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The move from circumscribed pilot programs to a merchant-focused service comes as Japanese companies create more consumer-facing products in the country’s regulated stablecoin market. June 1, 2023 Japan introduced a dedicated framework for stablecoins following the entry into force of changes to the Payment Services Act and related regulations.

The regulations created regulatory categories for fiat-linked stablecoins and require companies acting as intermediaries to register with the Financial Services Agency.

This framework was followed by regulatory approval for the distribution of USDC in March 2025 and the registration of JPYC as a funds transfer service provider in August, ahead of the launch of the stablecoin in October.

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